Jones Says Romo Will Spend More Time Around Practice This Year

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones says Tony Romo is going to be spending more time around the team’s Valley Ranch practice facility than he has in past years, Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News reports.

How much time?

“Peyton Manning-type time on the job,” Jones said.

After a post-draft press conference Saturday night, Jones mentioned how Cowboys coach Jason Garrett wants players to be involved as much as possible, and who better to set an example than the team’s franchise quarterback who recently signed a six-year, $108 million contract extension?

Jones went on to say that the additional time will lead to Romo being more involved in what the team runs on offense.

“If Tony, for instance, would be here Monday through Saturday … from seven in the morning to six o’clock at night all over this place then that’s better than the way it’s been,” Jones said. “We’ll have more success, and Jason believes that. It’s certainly at quarterback but he believes it at the other positions.

“Tony is going to have more time, more presence, not only in the offseason but when the season starts, beginning Monday, assuming we played Sundays. He’s going to have more time on the job. A part of what we agreed with was extra time on the job, beyond the norm. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a lot of time on the job, but extra time on the job, Peyton Manning-type time on the job.”

So that’s not implying that Romo wasn’t around enough before?

“No. It’s a bonus,” Jones said. “Anybody will tell you that Peyton Manning’s involvement in what they do is a bonus as opposed to what the general commitment is of top quarterbacks in the NFL. That’s a bonus. Again, because I haven’t been in meetings with Peyton for a long time, but we’re committed and [Romo’s] committed to that type of in-season and off-season approach for these years under his contract.”